Jo Goodman Read Free Page B

into the room. It did not alight on Molly, but on the bath that had been drawn for him hours ago. He'd never had the opportunity to use it; now he felt the need. "If it's all the same to you," he said, "I'd like my bath water warmed."
    That brought Molly upright and she made no attempt to bring the sheet with her. Her heavy breasts heaved as she managed quite a show of her indignation. "Yer throwin' Molly out of yer bed?"
    Apparently this was a first for Molly. "You should have gone back to sleep when I told you to," he said indifferently, turning away. Out of the corner of his eye he saw movement just below him. It had disappeared by the time he looked down. Someone just arriving at the inn? he wondered. But there had been no stage or horses. The sound of the inn's large door being slammed suggested to Colin that he'd been right about a new arrival. Probably a lone traveler surprised by the storm. Colin could have told him there was no need for panic. The rain was already letting up as thunder and lightning moved to points south and east of the inn.
    Molly was of a mind to push Colin out the open window, but she remembered he hadn't paid her. "On the nightstand," Colin said.
    "So yer a bloody mind reader, too." Molly took the coins he'd put out for her and scrambled off the bed. Clutching them in her palm, she began to dress. "Me sister told me why you and yer friend are here," she said. "And here I was, feelin' like I should comfort a man about to look death in the eye. Well, I can tell ye it doesn't matter a whit to me now if his lordship puts a lead ball through yer head or yer heart."
    "As long as he hits something," Colin said dryly.
    "Yer too bleedin' right."
    Colin came to his feet lightly. He could feel Molly's eyes on him as he walked to the door. He suspected she was glaring at him but when he turned he glimpsed something else there, something like regret perhaps, or longing. His dark eyes narrowed on Molly's pleasant, heart-shaped face. Had she imagined herself in love with him?
    "Don't flatter yerself," she said sharply.
    An edge of a smile touched Colin's mouth. "Now who's the bleedin' mind reader?"
    Molly's reply caught in her throat. He had no right to look at her just the way he was looking now and stop her thoughts before they were formed. It was that hint of a smile that did it. That, or the flicker of interest that was darkening eyes already as dark as polished onyx. It was just as well he was throwing her out. Given the rest of the night with him she'd be a fool for love by morning.
    "Arrogant bastard," she said under her breath. She finished fastening her skirt and shimmied into her blouse. The laces dangled and Molly made no attempt to tie them. He deserved to get an eyeful of what she was never giving him again, at least not unless he said please.
    Colin was preparing to open the door for her when the knock came. It was a tentative intrusion, not a firm one. Colin knew it couldn't be Aubrey. His second in command had fists like hammers. Doors rattled under his pressure.
    When Colin didn't respond to the first gentle rapping, the light staccato was tapped out again. He looked at Molly in question. When she shrugged, surprised as he, he placed a finger to his lips. She nodded her understanding.
    Reaching for his boots by the door, Colin removed a knife from a leather sheath in the right one. He held it lightly in his palm, hefting it once to familiarize himself with the feel and weight of the weapon. He opened the door a crack.
    The figure on the other side of the door was rain-soaked. The hooded cape dripped water onto the wooden floor. The person inside the woolen garment was shivering uncontrollably.
    "What do you want?" Colin asked tersely. It was too dark in the hallway to make out the features of the stranded traveler.
    "The innkeeper said I would find Captain Thorne here." The voice was husky and interspersed with the click of chattering teeth, but the timbre was unmistakably feminine.
    Colin